The new girl in town
by ArrowSupergirlFan
Summary: There's nothing Freya, Keelin and Vincent want more than a normal life. And they find that in LA, together with Hope, who is also in desperate need of a start-over. They meet a family that is also pretty unconventional.


"So, Hope, how did you meet Haley? You know each other from school?" Claire was trying to encourage this friendship. Hope didn't seem like her usual friends.

"Oh, yeah. I transferred here after moving in with my aunts. Haley was really nice." And there it was. Very composed and well-spoken. She was so mature, she could have given her daughter some of that.

"Your aunts? I didn't know you lived with your aunts." Haley seemed slightly interested and looked up from her phone.

"Yeah. After my parents' death they wanted to take me in. I've got a little cousin as well." This wasn't going well at all.

"So where did you live before?"

"New Orleans!" Hope jumped at the opportunity. "It's a beautiful city. My whole family lived there."

"Oh, we get it. We've got a big family, too. I've got gay uncles as well! Do you want to go shopping now or what?" Haley wasn't so full of small talk and patience. "Yes!" And out they went.

"Did you know her parents were dead?" Claire looked at Phil.

"I don't even know who that is."

"That's Hope Mikaelson, she's in Haley's high school. She is the most Alex like friend Haley ever had. I don't even know why Haley is interested in her, but we need to support that. She might even get Haley to study."

"You are crazy and I have a showing. Good luck choosing friends for Haley!"

"Do you want to get some T-shirts, too?" "Do I look like I'm done?" They both laughed and went into the next shop. "Hope, can I ask you something?" "Of course. What is it?" "Are your parents really dead?" "Yes. My mother died two years ago and my father did soon after." "Oh. That sucks." Hope smiled sadly. "It does." "Maybe we can invite you over to one of our family dinners. I think we might have one tonight. And my grandpa has a pool." "Can I say no after that? I'd love to come. Is that really not a problem for your family?" "No! My sister Alex once brought her gay boyfriend and my grandpa didn't even know who he was."

"Gloria! Haley is bringing a friend over tonight. You should cook more of whatever that is." She went out of her way to get over to Jay and give him a slap on the hand.

"You aren't taking this seriously! We're hosting Lilly's adoption anniversary. This is the first time Cam and Mitch let us do it. I want to show Lilly more of her culture."

"I don't know why we even celebrate that. Her birthday was just two months ago. We have enough people with birthdays anyway."

"You are gonna come and you are gonna wear the clothes I picked up."

"Are you sure that's culturally sensitive?"

"Stop being such a crybaby. Where I grew up, noone knew that word."

"Lilly's big day is coming! Does my little one want to learn more about Vietnam?" Cam loved shopping for his daughter.

"I hate Vietnam!" She ran off and Mitch took over.

"This is going to be so much better after today. We have movies and the restaurant and Gloria wants to do something super special."

"Should we be afraid? I don't want to remember her last party. She went a little over the top."

"This is not our problem right now. We should focus on the intercultural education part. Let's be honest, we are both white and our closest interaction with other ethnicities are with Gloria and Manny. Good thing she is doing the party."

"You are right. We need to change that right now." Mitch already knew this wasn't going to end well. And he was right. Cam ran over to the next black person in the supermarket. It was a young woman in the clothing isle. Mitch's effort to stop him without drawing too much attention failed miserably.

"Hello? Excuse me? Me and my husband here, Mitch…" "Wanted to go and grab some jeans. Could you step aside?" "Mitch is kidding. We wanted to ask you if you wanted to visit us. You have such a friendly aura." To her credit, she only looked slightly irritated. "Thank you! Ehh… I don't think so." She was already about to leave when another woman came around the corner with a stroller and a bottle of milk in her hands. "Oh, Keelin, who are your new friends? I'm Freya!" While Mitch was still trying to flee from the situation, Cam had already turned to the stroller. "Oh, Mitch, look at their baby! Their cute, mixed-raised baby." The eyebrows were so on the nose, Mitch felt like fainting. "Oooh, goochie goo. Do you remember when Lilly was this old? Lilly is our daughter." The women smiled politely at that, one seemed more honest than the other. "Oh, how nice! How old is she?" "She's seven. A very cute age." "I can't wait until our little Nick can talk." "Are you sure you want that?" Mitchell only slightly escalated the awkward. Now, he would have to abide to Cam's stupid plan. "We were just asking your beautiful wife to come visit us. Would you like to have tea with us today?" "We would love to. We are new here and don't have many parent friends yet. It's always good not to be the only gay couple around." "You will love LA then." "Okay, see you later! We'll just pick up our groceries and meet you after!" "Okay, bye! Oh, they are gone. You are lucky the nice one showed up, Keelin had you in her creep register already. I'm not sure I could have defended you."

Cam seemed very satisfied with how his plan turned out. He had his "I know I'm right"-face on. "We just met some nice people in a nice grocery store and will meet for coffee and be friends in the blink of an eye. And bang! With Longenes that makes two black friends. Maybe they know how to handle differences better. If they didn't have any gay friends before, maybe they didn't have any black friends either. They must be absolute pros at this!"

"Yeah, maybe they come from some intolerant farm town in the outskirts of nowhere where they've never seen anyone none white or none straight. I don't know, Grasshopper Missouri or something."

Cam turned while walking away: "You're gonna pay for this."

"Our family currently lives in an apartment, but we have grown so much."

"So your wife and her sister, your child and your niece? A baby and a teenager with three adults? No pets?"

"Right, but they are married, I am friends with them and the child's father."

"Oh, I'm sorry! Don't worry, I know big families. My brother in law is gay! Please stay!"

"It's alright. Can you find us a house with a garden and four rooms? That would be enough for me."

"Sure! What budget are we working with?"

"Money isn't really a problem. But we need a nice neighborhood. Kid-friendly. We don't know if we want more in the future."

Money is no problem? Phil could see the jackpot before his eyes. He couldn't let this one go.

"We will find the perfect place for you and your family! Do I get to meet the others as well? I really love to create an understanding for all your needs so that I can find the perfect home!"

"I don't really know… This was kind of my assignment."

"You can come over! I'm doing to introduce you to my family. You'll find that I am very aware of everything a family could need. It could be like a look into your future, where your Nik goes to college and the others are all mature as well."

Unfortunately, he didn't know how to decline politely and Phil Dunphy really was the realtor he wanted to hire.

"So, where are you from?"

"New Orleans. Freya's family lives there."

"Yes. They did."

"What do you work?"

"I'm a doctor and Freya stays home with our little Nik. We're taking turns. She gave the egg, I gave birth and she stays home. I work in the ER."

"Wow! I'm a lawyer and Cam stayed home at first as well. Keelin, does your family live here? Is that why you moved?"

"No. I don't have family. We were trying to start over."

"So, you are all alone here? And looking for friends?"

"We are not all alone. Our family is a little bigger. We adopted our teenage niece and there's a father involved with the baby as well. He is a close friend. And he's black. So our baby is not mixed-race, if that was your criterion."

"Oh my God! We're so sorry! It was just that our daughter, Lilly, is Vietnamese and has started noticing that she is different. We were just looking for a diverse crowd of friends to show her lived diversity. You just looked like you would be good at understanding."

"You are lucky we are desperate for friends. Is that your strategy, befriending diverse people?"

"We're also planning a party."

"Is everyone in LA that gay?" "Some are."

Later, at the party.

"So, Hope. You seem very wise for your age."

"Oh, I'm actually 17. I guess I'm held back a year."

"Really? I thought I heard Alex mention you had good grades and were very intelligent."

"Maybe. But I was homeschooled for some time and then there was so much going on in my family that I just missed out on the school end. That's also why I'm really glad to have found a friend so quick."

Freya entered from the other room.

"Hope! What a surprise! We haven't seen you all day!"

"I'm fine Aunt Freya. I went out shopping with my new friend, Haley."

"Hayley?"

"Yes, Haley. Like mom. This is her mother. They asked me over. Why are you here?"

"Oh, we met this nice gay couple grocery shopping today and they invited us and Nik over to them and their daughter Lilly. Apparently this party is for her."

"It is. Lilly is very adorable! You must be one of her aunts!"

"Yes, I'm Freya Mikaelson, Hope's father's sister. Keelin, my wife. How are you related to Mitch and Cam?"

"Mitchell is my brother and Cam is my brother-in-law. So Lilly is obviously my niece. This," she pulled him out of a talk, "is my husband, Phil. And our children, Haley, Alex and Luke. Luke's best friend and my stepbrother, Manny Delgado, his mom, Gloria with my brother Joe, her son, and my father, Jay and… I don't know who that is."

"Vincent Griffith. He's also like my uncle. And little Nik's father, of course. I can't tell you why he's here though, I'm afraid." Hope only looked slightly confused, but mostly amused. "Did you say the baby was your brother?"

And Hope realised your parents don't need to be immortal for you to have a baby uncle, a nephew to go to middle school with or a brother only a couple years older than your grandchild. In that moment, Marcel felt like her brother even more.

"Mr Griffith is my client. I'm finding him a family home. For his sister and her wife and their child and niece." Phil was overcompensating and nearly got nothing wrong.

"Aunt Keelin isn't his sister." "Damnit."

"Did you find a house?"

"Not yet, but that takes time. We should eat."

Phil held Claire back from going to the next room.

"I know you think I'm controlling…"

"We need to be nice to them! They're loaded. We really need the provision."

"So we're on the same team. Fantastic."

In the dining room, their plan was already endangered.

"So you three have a child together? My children wanted to do something like that once. My daughter planned to have a child with my gay son's husband."

"That's not what happened. And, by the way you are being very rude to our guests. We invited them over as friends…" "...and multicultural experts." Cam chimed in.

"Oh really? I noticed your accent." While it was ironic that Gloria asked this question, it steered the topic away.

"Oh yeah. Although my family was originally Norwegian, Mikaelson, you know, we grew up in England and moved to New Orleans when I was a teenager. I lived there until last year."

"Oh, so you came here from a different country, too? It's hard when the culture you live in is not the one you grew up with, right?"

"You have no idea."

"You are Norwegian? How cool, those are like vikings!"

"Luke! I'm sure that Freya wasn't raised by vikings. Right?"

"Right," Freya said, biting her tongue while Keelin and Vincent smirked slightly. "But New Orleans is very colourful itself. Many people speak French and you can really see the influences there. And New Orleans got its own character as well. The festivals, the parties…"

"The beignets. I really love those." Hope tried supporting her aunt.

"How was your wedding? Did you get married in New Orleans? I can't imagine what your wedding looked like."

"Yes, we did." Suddenly, Keelin was interested in the conversation. "It's where we met. But it wasn't extravagant or anything. It was pretty small and intimate. Just the family."

"It was beautiful. They just got married this summer."

"Do you have a big family as well? Or was it just you four?"

"My siblings were there. And Hope is right, it was beautiful."

"This night went super well, didn't it?" "I think it did."


End file.
